I just finished reading The Birds (414 BC) by Aristophanes, translated by Alan Sommerstein. I have read many of the surviving Greek tragedies, but this comedy is the first play by Aristophanes I’ve read. It is a fantastical, absurd work. I was surprised at just how different it is from the dramas written by Aeschylus,…

I finished reading The Infant by Denís Fonvízin (1782; Nèdorosl’), a play in five acts. It is translated by Joshua Cooper and is the earliest play included in a collection of Russian theater titled Four Russian Plays. This was a lot of fun to read. There was quite a bit of witty humor, social critique,…

I finished reading Thunder (also translated as The Storm; 1859), a play written by Alexander Ostrovsky. I had never read anything by Ostrovsky before, and coming across this play was like finding a hidden jewel! There is a well-developed cast of characters surrounding two young Russians: Catherine, an unhappy married woman, and Boris, the son…

Here is an old book jot from July 2021: I just finished reading Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1898), translated by Peter Carson. It is a four-act play and considered one of Chekhov’s major plays. Chekhov has long been one of my favorite authors, and I’ve read many of his short stories over the years.…

This is a book jot from June 2021: I just finished reading Electra (c. 420 BC) by Euripides, translated by Philip Vellacott. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Euripides, and tend to really like stories about the House of Atreus and any connected in some way to the Trojan War. The fate of those who…

I finished reading Athaliah by Jean Racine (translated by John Cairncross), a play first staged in 1691. Athaliah reads much like a Greco-Roman tragedy, although its subject matter and plot are derived from the Old Testament. I am not as familiar with the stories of the Old Testament as I am with many of the…

I finished reading The Miser by Molière (1668), translated by John Wood. It’s a five-act comedy and felt more farcical than the two comedies by Molière I’ve read previously. There were some very funny scenes and lines that made me laugh out loud. While there is much satire and humorous dialogue, the characters offer insightful…

I finished reading Britannicus by Jean Racine, translated by John Cairncross. It’s a play of five acts and was first performed in 1669. The plot centers on the Roman emperor Nero, his mother Agrippina, his stepbrother Britannicus, and Britannicus’s lover, June. The action takes place over a single day and tracks the characters’ attempts to…